Born in 1963 in Manchester, Rachel
has always enjoyed visual self-expression since her
foray into calligraphy as a child. Her formative years
were spent growing up in Derbyshire where she went
on to study at Manchester Metropolitan University.
She qualified as a dental technician and then worked
at Guy’s Dental Hospital. She was the only woman,
in the country in her speciality, to hold the post
of senior chief technician. The post allowed the development
of her natural manual skills with that of colour perception
by matching the shade of the crowns she made to the
natural colour of teeth. She left Guy’s to become
a full time mother of twins and a little later a girl.
Rachel’s enthusiasm for colour remained with
her as she began an artistic journey of self -discovery.
As the children grew she began to devote time to making
cards that were successfully sold countrywide. This
led to a thirst to learn more about art and painting
in particular. She enrolled on a college foundation
course. During this developmental period Rachel exhibited
at local galleries including the Artshed, Ware. Her
work is now on display at a number of venues throughout
England and Ireland.
Colour is her strength. She eschews many of the traditional
rules, so freeing her creative ability to apply her
skills with any tools or media that take her fancy.
Consequently her range of work has expanded to encompass
working with mixed media, watercolours, acrylics,
oils, aqueous dispersant, pastels and inks. The pictures
are created on canvas, slate or paper. Her subject
matter is derived primarily from nature and features
animals, poppies, and landscapes. This exciting use
of colour has led to a number of commissioned paintings.
At present Rachel is still learning and developing
her skills as she believes there is no end point to
reach, only a continuation of her artistic journey
into new and exciting use of colour and scenes to
capture in exciting media.
